Vandal Savage
Vandal Savage is a fictional character, a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. Savage is immortal, and he has plagued the earth with crime and violence since before the beginning of recorded human history. He is a brilliant tactician with immense technological prowess. He is one of DC's most persistent villains and has fought hundreds of heroes throughout history. In 2009, Vandal Savage was ranked as IGN's 36th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time. Vandal Savage, under the name "Curtis Knox" made his live-action debut in Smallville, portrayed by Dean Cain. The character was later introduced into The CW's Arrowverse, where he was portrayed by Casper Crump. He was the main antagonist in the crossover episodes of season two of The Flash and season four of Arrow, and during the first season of DC's Legends of Tomorrow. Publication history Vandal Savage first appeared in Green Lantern vol. 1 #10 (December 1943), and was created by Alfred Bester and Martin Nodell. Fictional character biography In the days of prehistory, 50,000 BC, Savage was a caveman named Vandar Adg, leader of the Cro-Magnon Blood Tribe. He was bathed in the radiation of a mysterious meteorite, which gave him incredible intellect and immortality. An observer from the Bear Tribe would later approach that same meteorite and become Savage's eternal nemesis, the Immortal Man, possessing the power to resurrect as a new person every time he is killed. When Batman was sent back in time by Darkseid, he arrived in prehistoric times as an amnesiac, who walked out of the cave where Anthro died and was discovered by a tribe of primitives led by Savage, who attempted to kill Batman in the belief that he is a member of the "Sky People." Savage held Batman hostage until a younger member of the tribe freed him and aided in his subsequent fight against Savage's mob.Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #1 34,000 years ago he invented the carving knife. Also according to Lex Luthor, there may be evidence to suggest that Savage was the first cannibal on record. Though the Calculator took this to be a joke, Luthor was apparently serious, and Savage has not shown much regard for human life. Villains United #6 (December, 2005) Savage came to live in Atlantis. In 9600 BC, he battled the Immortal Man in Atlantis.DCU Villains Secret Files and Origins #1 He was later involved in its destruction. He founded a group of people that became known as the Illuminati, with Savage serving as its leader..Time Masters # 1 In 3200 BC he fought alongside Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt from the Pharaoh's rule.JSA Classified #13 In 2578 BC, Nabu created the Scarab with the help of a time traveler. This was an attempt to overthrow Savage, who was at that time the pharaoh called Khafre; an impostor instead was killed in his place.Time Masters # 6 In 1600 BC, he survived the destruction of the Library of Alexandria.JSA Classified #13 In 75 BC, he defeated the Immortal Man as Gladiators in the Coliseum in Rome.DCU Villains Secret Files and Origins #1 He claimed to have taken the identity of Julius Caesar (though he has also claimed to have participated in the murder of Julius Caesar, but Pre-Crisis he claimed history was inaccurate and Brutus failed.Flash #137 (1962, Savage's first Silver Age appearance) ) In the 4th century he ruled over the Roman Empire as Emperor Licinius,JSA Classified #10 (May 2006) In 522 AD, he defeated Immortal Man in combat outside Tintagel Castle.DCU Villains Secret Files and Origins #1 Around 1000 AD, a prophecy by a soothsayer told him the Vandal would one day meet "the Hanged Man" who will usurp the pair of Black Lantern orbs he discovered. He decided to create the city of "Sapristi" in Bohemia along with a fortress to capture the "Hanged Man".Action Comics # 894 Another soothsayer thousands of years in the past revealed the future existence of the Justice Society (even showing him a battle he would have with them, with Hourman in their ranks).Action Comics # 516 In 1066 AD, now known as Sir Von Savage he advised William the Conqueror to invade England.Flash #137 (1962, Savage's first Silver Age appearance) At the end of the 12th century he took the name Genghis Khan and became the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in the history of man.Flash #137 (1962, Savage's first Silver Age appearance) In 1358 AD, he returned to hunt for the "Hanged Man". Using the spheres to emit an emotional aura which pleasantly enrages him, he caused the city of Sapristi to erupt into rage and chaos. He toured the city over the centuries in hunt for his future adversary.Action Comics # 895 In 1596 AD, he led the Spanish Armada in its attempted invasion of England as Alonso Pérez de Guzmán).Flash #137 (1962, Savage's first Silver Age appearance) He was the court physician in France and even used the royal family for syphilis experiments. In 1718 AD, Savage lived as the pirate Blackbeard. He was on the hunt for the treasure of the Miagani. However, he came across a time traveling Batman and was tricked after reaching the mysterious cave.Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne" # 3 After losing most of his crew, he faked his death using a head of one of his crew. JSA Classified 11 In 1738 AD, he defeated the Immortal Man on the coast of Hispaniola.DCU Villains Secret Files and Origins #1 In 1785 AD, at Savage Manor in England, Savage encountered Immortal Man again and participated in a duel, shooting his old rival.DCU Villains Secret Files and Origins #1 At the end of the 18th century he served Napoleon Bonaparte as Marshal Savage.Flash'' #137 (1962, Savage's first Silver Age appearance) In 1813 AD, at Fontainebleau, France, he duelled with the Immortal Man again, killing his foe once again.DCU Villains Secret Files and Origins #1 In the 1870s, he took the name "Monsieur Sauvage" and, currently weak from a cancer in his intestines, wanted Jonah Hex to eliminate the man who has been attacking his men, while Savage attempts to torture a woman whose family have been entrusted with a box, marked with the symbol of the bat, that they are to keep sealed until its owner comes to claim it. When he finds from the "doctor" torturing the girl how to open the box, Savage and the doctor escape in a carriage, with the girl and the box, while Batman is busy with Vandal's thugs. Batman catches up with the carriage which eventually falls into a nearby river. The doctor and Savage fall in but when they get out they come face to face with the Batman. Vandal, in an opium fueled delusion (due to the amount of opium he had consumed for the cancer), sees Batman as an actual bat, compared to the girl and Alan Wayne (who had been on the way to kill himself when the carriage had careened into the river) whom he sees as skeletons, and remembers that night thousands of years ago when a bat-man had appeared. He is then knocked out by Batman.Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #4 In 1888 AD, he terrorized Victorian era London as Jack the Ripper until he was stopped by the Immortal Man.DCU Villains Secret Files and Origins #1 In 1892 AD, Tucson, Arizona he had a shoot out with the Immortal Man.DCU Villains Secret Files and Origins #1 During World War I, he joined the German Empire, working with Otto von Bismarck whom he helped to invade France as Baron Von Savage.Flash #137 (1962, Savage's first Silver Age appearance) In 1927 AD, Chicago he gunned down the Immortal Man on the Chicago water front. DCU Villains Secret Files and Origins #1 Golden Age During the Golden Age, Savage battled the Justice Society of America after first meeting Green Lantern. He attempted to capture the members of the Justice Society out of revenge and place them in suspended animation using technology developed by the ISW member Brainwave, but was thwarted by the Golden and Silver Age Flashes (Jay Garrick and Barry Allen), Barry traveling to Earth-2 after mysterious blackouts happened in cities where JSA members lived. Savage used a weapon to make them fight each other, captured Jay after the younger Barry beat him, and tried to capture Barry, trying to use an illusion to trap Barry in a suspended animation container. But Barry realized his trick and freed the heroes. This caused the JSA to revive.Flash #137 (1962, Savage's first Silver Age appearance) Savage would continue to make various attacks on the Justice Society in later stories. He was also one of the founding members of the Injustice Society, who were each assigned to capture or kill a JSA member and engineer five jailbreaks to each attack a location in an attempt to conquer the United States. While leading an army of prison escapees from Gartmoor prison whom he had incited to riot by dropping leaflets about the ISW from a plane, he attacked an airport where Federal planes were about to land, and captured Hawkman, before Green Lantern impersonated the Thinker during the 'trial' of the JSA and freed the JSA, who jailed the villains. He briefly formed a group of villains called Tartarus. After the events of the 2008 "Final Crisis" storyline, Savage found himself hardly affected by the event, aside from gaining more enemies. Knowing his developed hatred for the Justice Society, the re-installation of a new team consisting of superheroes within the modern time known as the Justice League, quickly gained Savage’s attention to where he didn’t hesitate in forming a group of villains to make an attack on this new team so that they wouldn’t pose any threat towards Savage’s future goals. Yet, none would gain any more hatred from Savage than the supposed new Immortal Man, which was the mysterious Resurrection Man. Over time, Savage forgot many of his special powers, and never exhibited them to Barry Allen. After his recent fallout with the Justice League, Vandal Savage decided to take care of each member individually, starting with the newest Flash (Wally West). During this time, he operated the Villers Gallery, an antique salon on Fifth Avenue in New York City. A private investigator by the name of Harold Halston from Thermopolis, Wyoming had been investigating one Varney Sack at the request of a local realtor. Sack turned out to be Savage, and the immortal man killed Halston once he figured the private eye knew too much. In a showdown at the Club Neon, Wally, with the help of Frances Kane, fought Savage. He fell out of a window, but he disappeared before he hit the ground. Savage surfaced again later, this time selling Velocity 9, a highly addictive super-speed drug of his own creation, which interfered with much of the existing drug trade in New York. He put an ad in the paper that attracted successful yuppies, whom he used to do his bidding by giving them Velocity 9 so they could perform high speed crimes. However, these junkies aged at magnificent rates and suffered strokes very easily. Savage wished to use the heroin distribution network of mob boss Nick Bassaglia to distribute Velocity 9 to lawyers and stockbrokers, hoping to gain financial control of New York. However, Flash, who had gone looking for Bassaglia after he was kidnapped by Savage, was injected with Velocity 9. After giving him a short spurt of incredible speed, it took away his powers. Hoping that a second dose would make him another one of his junkies, Savage told Dr. Conrad Bortz to inject the Flash, who instead injected Savage, who ran away. He reappeared later, wanting money to leave the country. This money he attempted to acquire by kidnapping Rosie, the daughter of Wally's landlord, Mr. Gilchrist, with a ransom of five million dollars. He set many traps for the Flash, who was looking for Rosie, that led him to Barry Allen's grave, where Rosie was being kept. However, throughout all of this, Savage never showed his face. He is one of the main villains in the JLA: Year One storyline, working against the recently formed JLA, and harboring a deep hatred towards superheroes and the invading alien Appellaxians. During one confrontation with the aliens, Savage claims to have designed Stonehenge itself, which the aliens have just partially demolished. Savage also mentions that he shut down the Justice Society with "a few well-placed senators." Immortal Man Ultimately, Savage's enemy the Immortal Man erased himself from existence to save the world during the Crisis on Infinite Earths, and Mitch Shelley, the Resurrection Man, an amnesiac with similar powers which actually came from nanobots, took over as Savage's nemesis. However, Savage's list of foes is not limited to those two characters. Having lived so long, Savage has butted heads with possibly every single hero featured in the DC Universe, most notably the Justice Society of America and the Justice League of America. Original Green Lantern Alan Scott (in comics, his very first opponent) has been portrayed as one of Savage's main enemies, as well as the original Flash, Jay Garrick. It has been revealed that Savage refers to Hawkman – who has been reincarnated for a few millennia – as "the cockroach". At present, in DC universe, Savage is about 54,001 years old, although different numbers have been given in the past, from two million years in his first depiction, to 31,637 years in recent issues of JSA: Classified. DC One Million In this series, it is learned Savage has a base deep inside the Egyptian Sphinx. A confrontation with Martian Manhunter leaves him with a burnt out eye, which seemingly afflicts him far into the future. Savage will possibly meet his end after he has lived to the year A.D. 85,271 (as seen in the DC One Million storyline), when he is sent back in time to 20th century Montevideo, Uruguay, by a pair of doctored time traveling gauntlets, seconds before it is obliterated by a Rocket Red armorsuit carrying a huge nuclear payload, an action that was, ironically, ordered by Savage himself (Savage was hoping to use the gauntlets to move only through space and arrive at the 853rd century Metropolis). At this point, the time traveling hero Chronos is heard in the background, gloating about having conned Savage in retaliation for a previous adventure when Savage had him stranded in time. Tartarus After being foiled or after defeating some thugs, Savage is known to return for bloodthirsty revenge. This time he had his eyes set on the Titans, a team he had nearly defeated before they ruined his plans for a nuclear assault. This time, Savage decided to form a team of his own. To do this, Savage kidnapped the Titans member known as Omen and forced her to recruit the perfect team for him using her mental powers. Though Omen did what Savage commanded, she secretly selected a team that would quickly fall apart. Recruiting Gorilla Grodd, Lady Vic, Cheshire, Siren, and Red Panzer, Savage formed the group Tartarus. Their first mission was to find the H.I.V.E. Mistress known as Adeline Wilson so that Savage could use her blood in an immortality serum. After slitting her throat, Savage and his team were confronted by the Titans. Red Panzer died in the fight, but Savage and his remaining team managed to escape by shooting Cheshire and using her as a distraction, leaving her to be captured by the Titans. After learning the location of Omen, the Titans found her and engaged in another fight with Tartarus that quickly ended after Siren switched sides. Villains United Vandal Savage was seen in the final two issues of Villains United. Originally Savage was a member of Lex Luthor's Society, but he quit the Society and told Lex not to contact him for any reason after Luthor blew him off to welcome some less than competent new recruits. It is also plausible that Vandal quit because his daughter Scandal Savage was working against the Society as part of the Secret Six.Villains United #5 When the Society lodged a final ambush against the Six, Savage threatened to kill Luthor if he didn't call off the attack, saying that he couldn't allow anyone to harm his daughter. This was shown to be due more to ulterior motives than fatherly love, as in issue three of the Secret Six miniseries it was revealed Savage wants his daughter to produce an heir with Catman, and he's been putting bounties on the Secret Six's heads as a warning of what will happen to her lover, Knockout, if she refuses him.Villains United #6 He has, however, been seen as a member of the Society's second incarnation underneath Libra during the Final Crisis. He actually even serves as one of its inner cabinet members. Flash and JSA Savage was seen as leader of a doomsday cult. He attempted to use a device to pull an asteroid into the Earth, but was thrown into space with the asteroid itself when the Flash reversed the polarity of the device.Flash (2nd series) Eventually the asteroid fell back on Earth with Savage, who found his power greatly diminished and having lived through what he called the worst year of his life. His immortality completely drained, he is still able to survive otherwise fatal wounds, but a brain tumor and a strong decay of his biological functions are leading him to a fast death, with an estimated life span of eleven days. Savage tries to capture Alan Scott by baiting him with a grotesque (and disguised) Wesley Dodds clone, who, in fact, is his own clone. After a failed attempt to steal Scott's DNA, Savage is left alone in the rubble of his former secret base. Realizing that his clone could be considered his own offspring, and that the blood of his descendants has always renewed his strength, Savage cooks and eats his clone, renewing his energies at least for another year.JSA: Classified #10-13 Savage returns in the first story arc of the new Justice Society of America, the mastermind behind a group of Neo-Nazi superpowered villains called the Fourth Reich targeting the heirs of several Golden Age superhero bloodlines, in the belief that eliminating the bloodlines will eliminate the heroes' legacies and allow him to continue his goal of reshaping the world according to his own desires. He kills Minute Man, General Glory and Mister America, along with their families. The Fourth Reich kills nearly all Commander Steel's family. In issue #4, after a battle with Wildcat and his newly discovered son, who is revealed to have the ability to turn into a cat-like creature at which Savage is surprised which he claims to have not been in 116 years, Savage is defeated when hit by a fire truck. He later reappears in Atlantis where he is revealed to have been behind the atrocities in Sub Diego and Black Manta's occupation of the city.Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis #54 Salvation Run Vandal Savage was one of the villains imprisoned on the "Hell Planet" of Salvation Run. He claims to have puzzled out the mechanical workings of the planet and used this knowledge to locate a "safe zone" without any of the predators that roam the rest of the world.Salvation Run #4 He intends to mate with the female supervillains in his group, and produce an immortal progeny. He has placated some of the more willful of the females (like Phobia and Cheetah) by promising each of them that they will be his queen when he rules the planet. Ultimately, Savage escapes back to Earth along with the rest of the imprisoned villains following an attack by Parademons sent by Desaad (who used the planet as a training ground). Final Crisis After returning to Earth, in Final Crisis Vandal Savage is placed on the new Society's inner circle by Libra. As he says to Lex Luthor, Vandal is willing to follow Libra in exchange for his heart's desire, an end to his boredom. In Final Crisis: Revelations, the Order of the Stone (the followers of Cain) comes in possession of the Spear of Destiny. Later, a group of followers led by Sister Wrack enter Vandal Savage's tent. They plunge the Spear of Destiny into Vandal's body. Thus Cain is reborn in him, and agrees to lead the Followers into punishing the Spectre for branding him because of his ancient crime.Final Crisis: Revelations #2 Using the Spear, Cain is able to separate the Spectre from his human host, and make him his slave.Final Crisis: Revelations #3 Cain's plans are undone by Renee Montoya, who manages to steal the Spear and reunite the Spectre with his host. The Spectre, forbidden by God to kill Cain, instead sentences him to walk the Earth, unable to disguise himself, being forever reviled and persecuted by the rest of the human race and denied rest until God says otherwise (the Mark of Cain).Final Crisis: Revelations #5 The superhero team known as the Outsiders come into conflict with a mysterious group calling themselves the Insiders, who are tracking down the fragments of the meteorite that granted Savage his immortality. It is ultimately revealed that the Insiders were members of Savage's tribe who were also exposed to the meteorite and gained immortality. Savage (still possessing the Mark of Cain) forms a temporary alliance with fellow immortal and cult leader (as well as at times mass murderer) Ra's al Ghul to thwart the group's plan. Whether true or not, Vandal Savage has come to believe he literally is the Biblical Cain. The mark he still bears hampers his ability to do his business and thus he attempts to pass it off - to either the Question or the Huntress. He succeeds, imparting the mark to the Question, who accepts being branded to spare the Huntress from the disfigurement and the pain''Detective Comics'' #863 (despite the fact that the Question later proves how the brand could be suppressed by acknowledging the flaws, the shortcomings and the guilt of the bearer, a feat made seemingly impossible by Vandal Savage's mindset).Detective Comics Annual #12 (December 2010) The New 52 In The New 52 (a reboot of the DC Comics universe), Vandal Savage is a supporting character in Demon Knights, a story based on Arthurian Lore, co-starring with characters like Etrigan the Demon, Madame Xanadu, and Shining Knight.Demon Knights #4 This story taking place in the Middle Ages, Savage is, at this point, traveling the world content to simply enjoy life, living for wine, women, and war.Demon Knights #16 He is a master tactician and incredibly strong, and uses his many skills that he's picked up over his long lifetime to aid his teammates.Demon Knights #1-26 An older Savage appears in DC Universe Presents, fashioned as a serial killer. He claims to be of ancient origin, his crimes sacrifices to forgotten gods. He has a daughter named Kassandra (aka Kass Sage), who is a police officer.DC Universe Presents #9 During the Trinity War storyline, Vandal Savage appears as a member of the Secret Society of Super Villains. He assists Giganta and Signalman into tracking Pandora. After Giganta was subdued, Vandal Savage steps in and the two fight, until Pandora seemingly kills him. However, Vandal Savage gets up and demands that Pandora give him the box, or else he will continue to try to find a way to kill her. To his surprise, Pandora willingly gives him the box as she thinks she needs him to open it. Vandal Savage takes the box and fails to open it, with Pandora noting that he must have some good on his conscience.Trinity of Sin: Pandora #2 A recent storyline where Superman loses his powers is revealed to be part of a complex plan by Vandal Savage to undermine the world's heroes before abducting several members of the Justice League, using them to power a machine that will draw in the asteroid that gave him his immortality while triggering that power in various modern descendants of his. Although Superman is able to regain his powers by subjecting himself to a dangerous form of 'chemotherapy' where he deliberately exposes himself to kryptonite to burn away what radiation was preventing his cells from absorbing sunlight,Superman vol.3 #47 analysis reveals that Superman is now absorbing power from kryptonite that will soon kill him. Despite this, Superman refuses to give in, as various minor heroes assist him in confronting Savage's descendants before he takes Metallo's kryptonite heart (willingly donated) and charges into Savage's base.Superman vol.3 #48 Although Savage is able to use the asteroid and the drained Justice League to charge his children's powers, when Savage shoots Superman with a toxic bullet, the toxins burn away the last of the radiation contaminating Superman's cells, allowing him to literally fall into the Fortress of Solitude- 'stolen' by Vandal as part of his plans- and regain the last of his powers.Superman vol.3 #49 Using his enhanced abilities, Savage attempts to win Superman's loyalty by revealing that the asteroid that empowered him could have hit Krypton before it was redirected to Earth, suggesting that a Kryptonian with his powers would have saved the planet, and then showing him a vision of a future where Savage rules the world with Superman as his general against enemy threats, but Superman rejects both of these visions as he genuinely doesn't believe that strength alone solves anything, working with Savage's son the Puzzler to push the asteroid back out of Earth orbit.Superman vol.3 #50 Powers and abilities Since exposure to an unusual radiation generated by a crashed meteor, Savage has been functionally and biologically immortal, remaining unaged for over fifty thousand years and his physiology was further enhanced. He was also endowed with meta-human regenerative capacities, although this ability is intermittently portrayed between allowing him to recover from any injuries sustained to just allowing him to survive anything that might kill him; he is even capable of getting drunk like any normal human. The radiation also enhanced Savage's strength, stamina, and speed, and enhanced his intellect to above average levels. Savage is still vulnerable to external damage; the stories have shown him healing almost instantaneously to taking as long as a normal human. Savage still feels pain, but over time he has developed great endurance to it. His long life span has allowed him to gain a broad range of knowledge in a variety of fields, as well as granting him a great deal of influence over the world in general and the villain community in particular. Since a recent experience when he was trapped on an asteroid, Savage's immortality has been weakened, forcing him to cannibalize his own children and clones to try and replenish his energy. Recent stories have revealed that Savage was suffering from cancer when he acquired his immortality. As a result, while the cancerous cells in his body naturally cannot kill him, they cause him intermittent pain throughout his life, Savage being unable to have them removed as they are considered to be as much a part of his body as his healthy tissue. Vandal Savage is stated to be Cain, the first murderer himself, and as such he may be as old as the entire human race. He briefly wore the Mark of Cain, a metaphysical scarring with a cross pattern disfiguring his face, until he passed it to Renee Montoya. Though the mark can be suppressed by willpower and by the recognition of one's shortcomings and flaws, Vandal Savage never realized it, instead trying to force the mark on other people. In the DCnU story line it was revealed the irradiated meteor which gave Savage his Immortality and augmented physicality was Kryptonian in origin. Im-El, an ancestor of Kal-El's, managed to avert a cataclysmic impact event instead by sending it hurtling towards prehistoric Earth. A meteor fragment of said asteroid was what gave Savage his bolstered physique and immortality, it also had the effect of bestowing the progeny of his family line with odd powers and abilities as well as augmenting them, his own included. The closer Savage's comet came to the planet, the more these powers bestowed by them would intensify, to the point that Savage can batter and wound a weakened Superman long before the astral body would pass. When in full view of the celestial element, not only were all of his powers vastly augmented, to the point he could stalemate a re-powered Superman, but he could fly and emit energy as a form of comet tail. The extent of all these new abilities bestowed to him was not fully explored, as the comet was forced away before it could be explored in greater depth. Other versions Batman: Dark Knight Dynasty Vandal Savage is the villain in the 1997 Elseworlds limited series Batman: Dark Knight Dynasty. In this story, Savage is obsessed with recovering the meteor that gave him his immortality, believing that it will reveal why he became what he has. Over the centuries, he finds himself opposing the members of the Wayne family, starting with medieval knight Sir Joshua of Wainwright, to contemporary Bruce Wayne (Vandal saved Bruce's parents from the mugging that killed them otherwise, but killed them when Bruce was an adult to ensure they did not stop him from reacquiring the meteor, only for him and Bruce to perish when they fell to Earth after a battle in space), to futuristic Vice President Brenda Wayne, admiring their spirit and strength of character even as he refuses to allow them to stop his efforts. At the conclusion of this last battle, Vandal is left drifting through space on the meteor, determined to learn the purpose of his life. ''Kingdom Come'' In the limited series Kingdom Come, Vandal Savage is a member of Lex Luthor's Mankind Liberation Front, but is captured by Batman and his allies when he is mauled by that timeline's version of Wildcat. ''Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes'' Savage appears in the Star Trek/''Legion of Super-Heroes'' crossover, co-published by DC Comics and IDW Publishing in 2011. In the 6 issue miniseries, the crew of the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)|USS Enterprise]] join forces with the Legion of Super-Heroes after they are both accidentally thrown into an alternate timeline. In this timeline, Earth rules a galactic empire and is led by Vandal Savage. Kirk realizes Savage is also the mysterious immortal Flint. Savage/Flint had captured Q during a visit to the distant past and used his power to accelerate Earth's development and create an empire. While half of the group go back in time to discover when history diverged, the rest confront "Emperor Vandar the First" in the future. Vandar attempts to torture them with the goal of learning about the 'mistakes' in their histories so that he can 'correct' them in his timeline, but Kirk mockingly informs Vandar that his actions prove that he is nothing more than the caveman he was at the start, incapable of considering the idea that progress might be possible in any way other than beating his opponent to death. The alternate timeline is undone when Spock and Brainiac 5 release Q in the past; Q's escape undoes Vandar's changes and splits Vandal and Flint back into separate entities, Flint being a Vandal Savage who turned his life towards art and science rather than conquest. ''Flashpoint'' In the 1999 Elseworlds story "Flashpoint" (not to be confused with the 2011 crossover story arc of the same name), Savage runs a space-exploration corporation with the help of the crippled Barry Allen. He tries to use technology stolen from J'onn J'onzz to kill humanity (he wants to commit suicide in the grandest manner possible), but is killed by Barry Allen, who sacrifices his life to stop the alien device.Flashpoint #1-3 (Dec 1999--Feb 2000) ''The Multiversity'' Another version of Savage, this one an interdimensional pirate, features in The Society of Superheroes #1, part of the Grant Morrison-written 2014 limited series The Multiversity. This Vandal Savage is a native of Earth-40, a world dominated by pulp fiction villains. With a crew that includes versions of Lady Shiva and Blockbuster, he invades Earth-20, another pulp-inspired world with a cadre of heroes led by Doc Fate. Savage sets his sights on Immortal Man, needing to spill immortal blood to raise the demon Niczhuotan. Immortal Man overpowers Savage and it is Savage's own blood that is spilled. Although he dies, Savage's purpose has been fulfilled. Children Being immortal has not stopped Vandal Savage from procreating. Scandal Savage is his daughter and the only one of his children he considers his heir. He has trained her in combat since she was a young child. Scandal is a member of the Secret Six and by her own admission is "damned hard to kill". The demon Grendel (from Beowulf) is also one of Vandal Savage's childrenSecret Six #14 claiming that Vandal Savage "mounted the cave beast of my mother". He refers to Vandal as Cain, the first murderer. Another of his children is Cliff DeWitt, the owner of the Lab, the organization that gave Resurrection Man his powers. Within the New 52 he has another daughter named Kassandra Sage, an FBI agent who reluctantly consults her imprisoned father on a case. In other media Television Animation * Vandal Savage is seen in several episodes of the Justice League animated series, voiced by Phil Morris. This version, in addition to being an ageless immortal, has superhuman regenerative powers, allowing him to heal and regenerate any injuries instantly to leave no trace of damage. His origin is the same as that of his comic book counterpart, except that his age is half of that in the comics - 25,000 years. He first appears in "The Savage Time", where Vandal's future self goes back in time and gives his past self technology to help the Germans win World War II. His plans are thwarted by the Justice League, along with the help of the Blackhawks and Easy Company. He next appears in "Maid of Honor", where he claims to be his own grandson and is betrothed to Princess Audrey in order to become the ruler of Kasnia, seeking command of a satellite rail gun before it is destroyed by the Justice League. The episode "Hereafter" features a version of Savage from an alternate future, in which he succeeded in destroying all life on Earth. Having lived alone for 30,000 years, he regrets his earlier actions. Working with a time displaced Superman, who had been seemingly killed by a group of villains a few months before Vandal destroyed humanity but had been sent to this future instead, Vandal is able to reset the timeline by sending the Man of Steel back to the 20th century via his new time machine. He couldn't do this himself as the machine prevented him going back to a time where he already existed. As a result of the timeline being reset and his destruction of life on Earth undone, the reformed Savage quietly thanked Superman before being erased from existence, finally at peace with his newfound redemption. * Vandal Savage appears in the Young Justice animated series, voiced by Miguel Ferrer (in the first two seasons) and by David Kaye (in Young Justice: Outsiders due to Ferrer's passing). He appears as member L-1 of "The Light" (Project Cadmus' Board of Directors). In the show, Vandal is an ancient neanderthal and has three facial scars, which he got after he was mauled by a giant bear, prior to acquiring his powers of immortality and accelerated healing. The Young Justice: Outsiders episode "Evolution" introduced his daughters Cassandra Savage and Olympia Savage. In addition, a flashback showed that he fathered Nabu and Ishtar in Ancient Babylonia (and two metagene sons when he was Genghis Khan). Live action * Danny Bilson and Paul DeMeo had expressed interest in featuring Vandal Savage on the 1990 television series The Flash had the series been picked up for another season. * The character appears on Smallville under the alias Dr. Curtis Knox (portrayed by Dean Cain). Appearing in the season seven episode "Cure", he is an immortal who has lived for centuries under various names, and has actually been historical figures such as Napoleon Bonaparte and Jack the Ripper, as well as an apparent member of the Nazi party. The character was originally referred to as Vandal Savage in the script, but the producers were told by the studio that they couldn't use that name. However, it is still implied that the character of Knox is just an alias. This notion is reinforced years later when Vandal Savage's character uses Curtis Knox as an alias in Legends of Tomorrow. as Vandal Savage in Arrow.]] * Vandal Savage appears on episode eight of the second season of The Flash and the corresponding episode of the fourth season of Arrow, portrayed by Casper Crump. This version of the villain has had his origin story combined with that of the character Hath-Set. Hath-Set is an Egyptian priest who kills Prince Khufu and Priestess Chay-Ara. The three are exposed to dark matter from meteorites, later revealed to originate from Thanagar, which grants Hath-Set immortality and Khufu and Chay-Ara the ability to reincarnate. For 4,000 years, as Vandal Savage, he kills each of Khufu and Chay-Ara's incarnations throughout history to retain his immortality. He serves as mentor to some of history's greatest conquerors, including Julius Caesar and Genghis Khan, and amasses a wealth of knowledge on many subjects, training both Robin Hood and Harry Houdini. He caused the 1887 Yellow River flood simply to kill Khufu and Shiera; 2,000,000 people died in the disaster. He attempts to force the Flash and Green Arrow to betray Carter Hall and Kendra Saunders by threatening to destroy Star City and Central City with the Staff of Horus. He succeeds, and most of the heroes and their teams die, but the Flash survives, travels back in time and warns Green Arrow. When the events play out the second time, the heroes defeat Savage, and he is reduced to ashes by the Staff. His ashes are later collected by Malcolm Merlyn, who claims that Savage now owes him a debt. * Vandal Savage returns as the main antagonist of the first season of Legends of Tomorrow, reprised by Casper Crump. Destined to conquer the world by around 2166, Rip Hunter reveals that Vandal Savage cannot be killed for good unless Hawkgirl delivers the killing blow with a dagger that Shiera was holding at the moment of her first death, but will otherwise be brought back to life from a single cell. The subsequent series focuses on Rip Hunter and his assembled team tracking Savage through various points in history, ranging between the past and the future, attempting to limit his allies and eliminate his resources, such as attempting to infiltrate the bank where he kept his finances in 1975 or thwarting his attempt to create a Soviet Firestorm in 1986. In the pilot, it is shown that Savage was responsible for the deaths of Rip's wife and son. By 2166, as he is a dictator, he is also the father of a young woman who goes by Cassandra.Leviathan In the episode, "Night of the Hawk", Vandal uses the name, Dr. Curtis Knox, as an alias, a reference to Smallville.Pilot After the team have been chasing him around various periods of history trying to limit his powers, they learn that Savage is actually working with the Time Masters who see him as the only one who can avert a Thanagarian invasion to occur after 2166. But once the Time Masters lost their ability to influence time, Savage uses the time machine they provided to enact his own plan. This involved Savage contacting two past versions of himself to conduct a ritual with the meteorites to wipe all out time after ancient Egypt by causing a complex temporal paradox detonating three Thanagarian meteorites in three different times. However, the radiation exposure rendered Savage mortal, leaving him and his past selves opened to be killed by Rip and the team in the season finale, the team identifying the three time periods where Earth and Thanagar are in a rare moment of alignment after Savage will have acquired the three meteors, with Rory, Sara, Kendra, and Rip killing Savage in the three time periods while Ray and Firestorm dispose of the meteors in their time periods, leaving Rip to use the Waverider to drop the third into the sun. Film * Vandal Savage appears as the main antagonist in the animated film Justice League: Doom with Phil Morris reprising his role from the Justice League animated series. * Vandal Savage appears in the animated film Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash, voiced again by Phil Morris. After Brainiac scatters the Justice League across time, Batman and Flash use the Cosmic treadmill to travel to the Stone Age to find Wonder Woman. That timeline's Vandal (who has not yet experienced the Meteorite that gave him his intellect and immortality) enslaved several cavewomen in hopes of forming an empire with them, until Wonder Woman (who had her memories warped to stabilize the timeline) arrived to banish him and his male warriors. Vandal is then seen by Batman holding a cavewoman hostage. When Batman frees the hostage, she captures Vandal and Batman and takes them to Wonder Woman to be roasted in a pit of lava. Batman manages to free him and Vandal from the restraints and Vandal gets away. The present day Vandal can be seen along with Cheetah at the beginning of the film being arrested by the Justice League and forced into a police car. * Vandal Savage appears in Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay, voiced by Jim Pirri. His origins are mentioned to be the same as it is, with him receiving his superhuman intellect and immortality from radiation of a meteorite. It is also mentioned that he adopted the names of several tyrants in history (such as Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and Genghis Khan). He is the father of Scandal Savage but appears to hold no regard for his daughter's happiness, as he is evidenced by ordering his men to mortally shoot Knockout who he further wounded himself when Scandal asked for his help. He pursues the "Get Out Of Hell Free" card, despite being immortal; so that he may be spared from damnation and spend his afterlife in Heaven. During the confrontation at his residence, the Suicide Squad questioned his desire for the card, stating that he was immortal and does not need it. Vandal revealed that he has had many near-death experiences despite his immortality within the last decade than ever over the millennia before, due to the existence of metahumans. This led him to the logical conclusion that death is inevitable even for him. He has Professor Pyg surgically implant the card inside his body to prevent anyone from getting it, and positioning it in such a way that any attempts to get the card would instantly kill him, thus using up the card on him instantly. He is seemingly killed when Professor Zoom removes the card from his body via a vibrating hand through Savage's chest. Video games * Vandal Savage appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Brian Talbot. * Vandal Savage appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Villains DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains. References Category:Golden Age supervillains Category:Male characters in comics Category:DC animated universe characters Category:DC Comics metahumans Category:DC Comics supervillains Category:Earth-Two Category:DC Comics characters with accelerated healing Category:DC Comics characters with superhuman strength Category:DC Comics immortals Category:Fictional cannibals Category:Fictional Nazis Category:Fictional dictators Category:Fictional kings Category:Fictional physicians Category:Fictional cult leaders Category:Fictional mass murderers Category:Fictional centenarians Category:Fictional prehistoric characters Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1943